Re: [docbook-apps] docbook-xml software for MACs

["John L. Clark" <jlc6@po.cwru.edu>]

On Thu, Oct 28, 2004 at 11:59:56PM +0200, Jens Skripczynski wrote:
> What version of the xmlmind editor do you use ? the standard or the pro
> version ?

I know that wasn't directed at me, but I'm using XXE (the XMLmind XML
Editor) Standard on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows, and I've been greatly
pleased.  I'm guessing that your question implies a further question
about the usability and functionality of one vs. the other, so I'll
elaborate on that a bit here.  Feel free to ask a more detailed question
and I'll do my best to answer it.

The most visible difference in the versions is that XXE Standard
artificially constrains you from using XML Schema to validate your
documents.  Instead, XXE Standard documents are written against DTDs
(and as a side effect are not namespace-aware).  There is still a lot
you can do with DTDs, but truly versatile compound documents really
require namespace-awareness.  I have successfully created
properly-namespaced compound documents that validate against DTDs, but
there are more hoops through which to jump.  This is the main
limitation, although there are others[0].

For DocBook (and a few other languages, such as XHTML), XXE Standard
will provide you with a great authoring environment out-of-the-box.  For
anything else you can express with a DTD, you can develop a
configuration for editing that format.  The configuration language is
powerful and wonderfully standards-compliant, their documentation is
rich, and their mailing-list is responsive and supportive.

In order to really step up and do some really cool things with XXE, I
lust after the Pro version.  That said, the Standard version is
extremely useful.

Take care,

    John L. Clark

[0] http://www.xmlmind.com/xmleditor/proedition.html

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